This invention relates to flexible containers for shipping fluids. More specifically, this invention relates to flexible containers for shipping fluids, which containers are receivable within rigid containers, e.g. standard cargo containers, over the road trucks and aircraft cargo containers, and which flexible containers may be used within such rigid containers without structural modification or the addition of rigging fittings such as hooks, eyes, tie-downs and the like.
In modern transportation techniques the transport of liquids ordinarily has required the use of rigid containers, e.g. barrels or drums within other rigid containers or the dedication of liquid storage vehicles to the task. Such dedicated vehicles for the most part comprise tank wagons or tank trucks. Ordinarily barrels or other rigid containers are discarded or returned empty. Similarly, the use of dedicated vehicles ordinarily results in the transport of fluid in one direction and return of the vehicle empty (dead-heading) for subsequent use. As is well recognized in this industry, in addition to the cost incidental to dead-heading, vehicles or containers which are dedicated to such fluid use are expensive to purchase, expensive to clean and expensive to operate.
It has been proposed, from time-to-time, that a solution to dedicated vehicles for the transport of fluid is to provide a collapsible member or bladder within the transport means. Thus, a typical modern transport means comprises a standard cargo container e.g. a cargo container approximately 20 feet in length. Ordinarily, such containers are utilized for dry goods shipments. However, they are sometimes used to transport fluids. Where they are to be used to transport fluids a flexible tank may be provided within the cargo container and secured therein by lines or other means cooperating with hooks and/or eyes disposed on the inner surfaces of the containers. Such hooks and/or eyes must be installed for purposes of transporting the fluid and frequently must be removed before utilization of the container for dry cargo because they interfere with the volumetric shape of the cargo area.
Typical flexible shipping containers are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,902 to Prager, U.S. Pat. No. 2,969,102 to Cunningham, U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,050 to Weingarten, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 2,437,058 to Waters.
One of the problems experienced with respect to the use of known flexible tank means is that the flexible tanks permit sloshing and hurling of the contained fluids. Such sloshing and hurling result in dangerous out-of-balance conditions, sometimes equating to free surface effect. The result is significant instability in the load which can, and sometimes does, result in instability of the vehicle carrying the load with the possibility of accident and injury.
With respect to the use of rigid containers within containers, e.g. the use of 55 gallon drums within rigid cargo containers, there is a significant waste of space. Such lack of space utilization has been observed to be as much as fifty to seventy percent of available cargo space.